


Synopsis: Haunted

by dairesfanficrefuge_archivist



Category: Highlander: The Series
Genre: Meta, Season/Series 05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-12-31
Updated: 2003-12-31
Packaged: 2018-12-18 06:58:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11869023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dairesfanficrefuge_archivist/pseuds/dairesfanficrefuge_archivist
Summary: Note from Daire, the archivist: this story was originally archived atDaire's Fanfic Refuge. Deciding to give the stories a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address onDaire's Fanfic Refuge's collection profile.





	Synopsis: Haunted

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Daire, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Daire's Fanfic Refuge](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Daire%27s_Fanfic_Refuge). Deciding to give the stories a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Daire's Fanfic Refuge's collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/dairesfanficrefuge/profile).

Haunted

**HAUNTED**

Reincarnation? Transmigration of souls? What happens during a Quickening, anyway? Do the lives we touch forever haunt us in some ways? Do we but _imagine_ our own inner demons or.... are they real? 'Haunted' raises these and other disturbing questions. 

Richie learns, as MacLeod has known for centuries, that those he kills will forever be a part of him. 

_New characters:_

**ALEC HILL** \- Immortal, friend of Duncan's from the late 1880's. Duncan promised that if Alec died before avenging the murder of his wife, Mac would finish the job. 

**GERARD KRAGEN** \- Immortal, a baddie, likes to put women in pictures, then and now. He claims that he 'made' Genevieve into the cultured person she is; he would rather see her dead, than with another man...a male version of Chivalry's Kristin. 

**GENEVIEVE HILL** \- Alec's mortal wife, killed by Kragen in 1886. 

**JENNIFER HILL** \- Alec's present mortal wife, thinks Alec was killed by Kragen, now experiencing an odd, familiar attraction to Richie...and he to her. 

* * *

San Francisco, Present Day 

The rain lashes down,   
Pelting all in its path,   
Trees quake in the wind,   
Nature's unleashed her wrath,   
Jennifer awakes-   
To a storm-darkened room,   
Only flashes of lightning-   
Illumine the gloom. 

Then a new sound she hears,   
Familiar, yet frightening,   
Between peals of thunder-   
And flickers of lightning,   
She steadies her flashlight-   
To track down its source,   
But she knows in her heart-   
It is Alec, of course. 

The sweet melody-   
That he often played,   
His voice in her ears,   
'Aura Lee,' lovely maid,   
Seated at the piano-   
His ghost still plays on,   
A stroke of bright lightning-   
Then the vision is gone! 

She's jolted with force-   
From her sweet reverie,   
Her window is smashed!   
It's the branch of a tree!   
Now faint, in the mirror-   
His reflection shines through,   
'Alec,' she whispers...   
'Can it be you?' 

She flies from her house,   
Quickly drives through the rain,   
Kneels at his graveside,   
To pour out her pain,   
'What do you want?'   
Strokes his name, carved in stone,   
'Alec Hill, Beloved Husband,'   
Won't leave her alone. 

The Dojo 

As Richie works out,   
We admire his physique,   
His muscles defined,   
His skin smooth and sleek,   
No longer a novice,   
With a sword, he's a pro,   
Jenn likes what she sees,   
And she lets him know. 

For a moment it seems-   
That she sees Alec's face-   
Upon Richie's back-   
Its lines she can trace,   
But the face fades away,   
Leaves behind Richie Ryan-   
Introducing himself,   
She's impressed, no denyin'. 

Once more, her beloved-   
In Richie, she sees,   
She hears Alec's voice-   
Instead of Richie's,   
Richie's taking up music,   
A harmonica is near,   
Alec sang and he played-   
Songs she held dear. 

She's come to see Duncan,   
'Lucky guy,' Rich contends,   
Rich escorts her upstairs,   
She and Mac are old friends,   
Mac hugs her with gusto,   
'Where's Alec?' cheerfully,   
'Duncan...He's gone,'   
She replies tearfully. 

'It wasn't supposed-   
To happen this way,   
I should have died first,'   
She struggles to say,   
'When did it happen?'   
'Last summer, July,   
He finally found Kragen,   
Could not pass him by.' 

Flashback, San Francisco, 1886 

It's hot, sweaty work,   
But in spite of the heat,   
The frame of the house,   
Is almost complete,   
MacLeod's helping Alec-   
To get a fresh start,   
'It is Genevieve's wish,'   
She's the love of his heart. 

'You're lucky,' says Mac   
As Genevieve appears,   
Alec says he has searched-   
For many long years,   
'But the moment we met,   
I knew it was fate-   
That for all time,   
We would ne'er separate.' 

As she approaches,   
Alec bursts out in song,   
'Aura Lee-it's her favorite,'   
By her smile, he's not wrong,   
She's brought them a picnic,   
But chides them a smidgen-   
About their cigars-   
And their grimy condition. 

Down to the creek,   
To make themselves clean,   
While she spreads the cloth-   
For their picnic, serene,   
From nearby, she hears-   
A whinnying sound,   
A horse has pulled up,   
She turns, looks around. 

Kragen! That monster-   
Has pursued her here,   
To see him again-   
Is her very worst fear,   
'Your manners!' he scolds,   
'Not even a cup-   
Of coffee, you offer.'   
She picks the pot up. 

His hand touches hers,   
She recoils, wipes it clean,   
He muses, 'Remember-   
Life treated you mean...   
You welcomed my touch,   
You were rotting away-   
In a tenement, rife-   
With filth and decay. 

'I was fine!' 'You were _nothing_!   
I made you a star!   
My portraits of you-   
In fine galleries are,   
I taught you your walk,   
How to talk, what to say,   
And how was I thanked?   
You ran away!' 

'Alec is coming!'   
'Too bad we can't stay...   
But our ship sails to China,   
And it's leaving today.'   
She tries to escape,   
But he won't let her free,   
'You're mine!' he insists,   
'And you're coming with me!' 

Her shrieks reach the men-   
They dart from the stream-   
To a hellish tableau-   
From a demonic dream,   
Genevieve's held at knifepoint,   
Kragen threatens his worst,   
Alec scrams, 'She's my WIFE!'   
Kragen: 'I had her _first_!' 

Though Mac counsels caution-   
Alec's judgment is blurred,   
He whips out his sword,   
Kragen's still undeterred,   
Kragen pulls Genevieve-   
To the edge of a drop,   
Mac recalls Debra Campbell,   
Praying Kragen will stop. 

'There's nowhere to go...'   
Alec cries. Then he lunges,   
'Yes there is,' replies Kragan-   
Then with Genevieve, he plunges,   
Alec jumps after,   
All reason now fled,   
In the blink of an eye-   
His soulmate is dead. 

When Alec revives,   
Mac is quietly mourning-   
By Genevieve's body,   
Alec's hope died aborning,   
'Duncan, if I-   
Must return from the dead-   
I will track that beast down-   
And cut off his head!' 

'Promise me, Duncan,   
If I die prematurely,   
You'll finish the job,   
Mac answers, 'Yes, surely.'   
MacLeod gave his word,   
Now Alec's departed,   
But his new wife remains-   
To mourn, brokenhearted. 

The Loft, Present Day 

'Alec finished the house,   
Lived there, until now,'   
Says Jennifer, 'He hoped-   
That her spirit, somehow-   
Would join with my own.'   
Richie: 'Reincarnation?'   
She: 'To Alec, the soul-   
Had eternal duration.' 

Flashback, San Francisco, 1888   
(Two years later) 

MacLeod finds his friend-   
At his piano, sitting-   
Still playing 'Aura Lee.'   
His grief, unremitting,   
He's convinced Genevieve-   
Will walk through his door,   
In vain, Mac asserts-   
'She'll return, nevermore.' 

Says Alec, 'Her body-   
Alone, died that day,   
Her soul's still out there-   
In search of a way-   
To return to me,   
Souls never perish-   
They're eternal and stay-   
Near those that they cherish.' 

'Alec! Amanda-   
Became a big winner!   
Won Kit's 'Double Eagle,'   
Get dressed! Let's have dinner!'   
But despite Mac's entreaties,   
Alec will not be leaving,   
He'll continue his vigil,   
Expectant and grieving. 

The Loft 

Jennifer tells Mac-   
And Richie that she-   
Felt an instant attraction-   
To Alec, 'As if he-   
And I knew each other-   
For all of my life,   
That it was ordained-   
We'd be husband and wife.' 

'He still visits me,   
We are never apart.'   
Mac (gently), 'Alec lives-   
In your mind and your heart.'   
'No, there's a task-   
Unfinished, but begun,'   
'Kragen?' asks Mac   
'Will you see that it's done?' 

Joe's Bar, Later 

Rich and Jennifer discuss-   
An Immortal's odd life,   
'Do you think that your spirit's-   
That of Alec's first wife?'   
'I thought Immortality-   
At first, unbelievable,   
But you're here and real...   
Who knows what's conceivable?' 

Jennifer goes on-   
'Your lives are so frightening,   
I couldn't handle-   
The fear and the fighting,'   
'Jenn, you're the brave one,   
You chose to remain-   
With Alec, in spite-   
Of the fear and the pain.' 

'I had no choice,   
This may sound stupid,   
But our souls were connected,   
It wasn't just Cupid,'   
Rich feels it now,   
This attraction toward Jenn,   
'Do you think, it could ever-   
Happen again?' 

She smiles. 'He would have-   
To be special and kind,   
Someone...' Only Alec-   
Permeates her mind.   
Richie's face becomes Alec's,   
Like a double exposure,   
She must be excused,   
To regain her composure. 

Joe sees Rich alone,   
Lighting up a cigar,   
(Alec adored them)   
For Rich, it's bizarre,   
Rich asks for advice,   
Joe has waited for this,   
'You and Alec Hill's wife?'   
'Joe, that's not how it is.' 

'Mac had to leave,   
He went out of town,   
Tracking the S.O.B-   
That cut Alec down,   
'Richie,' says Joe,   
'YOU'RE that S.O.B.,'   
Blood leaves Richie's face,   
'It couldn't have been me!' 

Joe pours Rich a drink,   
'San Francisco, last July,   
Brown hair, Army saber,'   
Richie: 'That was the guy?'   
He gulps down his drink,   
'Never told me his name,   
Picked a fight, him or me,   
That's the way of our Game.' 

'It was a fair fight,   
Yes, I took his life,   
But I didn't know-   
That he had a wife.'   
'Everyone leaves someone-   
Behind,' replies Joe,   
When Jennifer returns,   
Rich mumbles, 'Gotta go.' 

Richie's Apartment, Later 

On Richie's harmonica,   
Aura Lee's a mere squeak,   
A knock, there is Jennifer,   
Needing to speak,   
Richie tries to come clean,   
But she thinks he's referring-   
To that moment at Joe's   
When hormones were stirring. 

She pulls him beside her,   
On the sofa, they sit,   
To her tempting allure-   
He can't help but submit,   
Her touches describe-   
A burning sensation,   
He's the moth to her flame-   
Nearing incineration. 

San Francisco, Present Day 

The Highlander's found-   
The right movie lot,   
'Where is the sound stage?'   
He's shown to the spot,   
Kragen works here,   
A vow is a vow,   
Alec Hill will have justice,   
Very soon, now. 

Richie's Apartment 

Richie's on fire,   
Hearing Jennifer say,   
'Only once in my life-   
Have I felt this way,'   
'This isn't a good-   
Idea,' he's protesting,   
'I know that,' she smiles,   
But their passion is cresting. 

'We were meant to be,   
For all time, forever,'   
They kiss, realizing-   
That nothing can sever-   
Their union of souls-   
In consummate bliss,   
And so...they embrace,   
Kiss after sweet kiss. 

San Francisco Movie Lot 

Kragen's directing-   
An X-rated flick,   
He insists that the 'actress'-   
Disrobe, 'Do it quick!'   
'It's not in my contract!'   
Kragen calls it a day,   
The crew can go home,   
The 'actress' must stay. 

The Buzz alerts Kragen-   
That he has been found,   
Mac enters, 'Still shoving-   
Women around?'   
Kragen kicks out the 'actress,'   
MacLeod has him pumped,   
'You should have seen-   
Your face, when I jumped!' 

Richie's Apartment 

While the swordplay commences,   
We watch Rich and Jenn,   
Caressing and kissing-   
Again and again,   
'Kiss me, sweet Jenny,'   
Alec's voice sets the tone,   
As Richie begins-   
Swordplay of his own. 

Movie Set 

Across the cheap set-   
They battle their way,   
Mac's clearly in charge,   
Cold fury holds sway,   
Mac's katana rips Kragen-   
Bringing him to his knees,   
Mac now can dispatch-   
This vermin, with ease. 

Mac sends Kragen off-   
From this earthly place-   
After saying, 'You should see-   
The look on your face.'   
Then the Quickening impacts-   
With jolts and with flashes-   
All around Mac the set-   
Noisily crashes. 

Richie's Apartment 

The fireworks subside-   
For Richie and Jenn,   
He lies back exhausted,   
She snuggles...and then-   
She whispers her love,   
While stroking his chest,   
But her, 'I love you, Alec,'   
Fills Rich with unrest. 

Movie Set 

Exhausted, Mac watches-   
The dreary aftermath-   
As parts of the set-   
Still collapse in his path,   
He shakily stands,   
No stage crew will clap-   
As he calls to dead air-   
'Cut, print, that's a wrap!' 

The Dojo, Later 

MacLeod is bone weary,   
With fatigue near prostrate,   
Seeks a shower and rest,   
But Rich cannot wait,   
'Jennifer,' he starts-   
(Seeing concern on Mac's face),   
'She's fine, but for now-   
She's staying at my place.' 

'You asked me to watch her,   
She came on to me,   
I lost control,   
Wasn't smart, I agree.'   
Mac says it's okay,   
Starts to walk, then is stopped,   
Richie's big bombshell-   
Has yet to be dropped. 

'Kragen wasn't the one-   
That killed Alec Hill,'   
Mac lets his bag fall,   
Keeping calm with self-will,   
'Who did?' he inquires,   
Eyeing Rich, caustically,   
'I did,' says Richie-   
To MacLeod, 'It was me.' 

Flashback, Anchor Studios, San Francisco 

'I was fixing my bike,   
Not looking for trouble,   
When Alec roared up,   
'Move that bike! On the double!'   
He was on Kragen's trail,   
That was his hurry,   
Whatever his problem,   
It wasn't _my_ worry.' 

'If you want the bike moved,   
Then you go and move it!'   
I insulted his manhood,   
Now he had to prove it,   
He drew his sword,   
I was mad, seeing red,   
No way, I'd back down,   
So I took his head.' 

The Loft, Present Day 

'You killed him for NOTHING!'   
'Should I have run?   
What have you taught me?   
We fought fair, I won.'   
'You slept with his WIFE!'   
'Couldn't stop, had to do it,   
Something drew us together-   
And both of us knew it.' 

'How can I fix it?'   
Snaps Duncan, 'You can't!'   
'Well, you are the one-   
Who is so cognizant...   
What's your advice?'   
Duncan's stymied, says zero,   
'I'll tell her the truth.'   
Decides Richie, the hero. 

MacLeod roars his anger,   
'That-you _won't_ do!   
'You killed her husband,   
After what she's been through-   
She can't deal with that!'   
Richie stares at Mac's frown,   
'Then what should I do?'   
'For the moment, leave town.' 

'Fine.' Rich resents-   
Being whipped like a cur,   
'What about Jennifer?'   
'I'll deal with her...   
She'll believe Alec's killer-   
Has met his just end.'   
'I'm sorry,' offers Rich-   
'That I killed your friend.' 

Joe's Bar 

Over dinner, Mac told-   
Of Kragen's demise,   
Jenn examines his face -   
Sees him in a new guise,   
'Alec's soul rests within you,   
With Immortals, that's so.'   
'No Jenn, it's different,   
You must let this go.' 

She admits that she was-   
With Richie, last night,   
'Now I feel guilty,'   
'Jenn, you'll know when it's right.'   
'Saw Alec last night,   
I still miss him so.'   
'Maybe your mind-   
Will not let him go.' 

Gently holding her hand,   
Mac is soothing and kind,   
Soft words of healing,   
'In time you will find-   
That you'll be okay,   
It'll work out somehow,'   
Upon leaving, she says,   
'Alec's in you, right now.' 

Mac goes to the bar,   
He needs Dawson's view,   
'What a mess!' he laments   
'What else could you do?'   
'I lied.' No, you just-   
Withheld information.'   
But the Boy Scout's uneasy-   
With this situation. 

Richie's Apartment 

Richie is packing.   
This town he is blowing,   
Then Jennifer comes by,   
Asks, 'Where are you going?   
Richie, don't leave,   
Duncan helped me to see-   
Holding on to a ghost-   
Has been hampering me.' 

'It's time to start living,   
Duncan said I would know,   
When the right time arrived,   
And with you, I'm aglow.'   
'Jenn, this can't happen,   
I have to leave.'   
'Why?' her voice tearful,   
'What will that achieve?' 

'Why can't we be-   
Together?' She cries,   
He can't face the pain-   
That he sees in her eyes,   
Without meaning to-   
He blurts the truth out,   
'Because I killed Alec.'   
'What're you talking about?' 

'He picked a fight,   
I did what I had to,   
Didn't know who he was,   
Didn't know about you.'   
She's backing away-   
Her disgust, he can see,   
'You murdering bastard!   
How dare you touch me!' 

Nothing he says-   
Can soften the blow,   
She's trembling with anger,   
How could he sink that low?   
She storms out the door,   
After screaming at Rich-   
'You killed Alec, then took me,   
Sick son-of-a-bitch!' 

Joe's Bar 

'What was I thinking?'   
(Richie puffs his cigar)   
'Joe, Mac was right,   
I went way too far,   
I was stupid. Telling her-   
Was not the solution,   
What was I after?'   
Says Joe, 'Absolution.' 

'Something inside me,   
Drove me to do it.'   
'Maybe, Alec Hill-   
Was pushing you to it,   
You took his Quickening,   
Maybe his love went with it,'   
'Joe, It's much simpler,   
I am an idiot.' 

Joe: 'Well there's that,'   
(With a charitable smile)   
'What will you do?'   
'Leave Dodge, for a while.'   
Both Richie and Joe,   
Share the same fears-   
How will Duncan MacLeod-   
React when he hears? 

The Dojo Office 

Jenn is tearful, irate   
And at her wits end,   
Duncan will not kill Richie,   
'He still is my friend,'   
'You promised Alec!'   
'Only Kragen. He's dead,   
When Immortals cross swords,   
One loses his head.' 

'That's how we live,   
Unfortunate, but true,   
I'm not killing Richie-   
Over what we _all_ do.'   
She stalks from the office,   
'You're worse than a liar,   
You're a coward, as well,'   
He cannot mollify her. 

'Unreasonable,' he called her,   
Her response made him reel,   
'You have no idea,   
The way that I feel,'   
But he does! He has seen-   
Loved ones killed in his day,   
His first thought was always-   
'The killer must pay.' 

Richie's Apartment 

It would have been better-   
Had Rich left before,   
But he's just finished packing-   
Now Jenn's at his door.   
Again, Rich expresses-   
How sorry he is,   
'I never meant harm-   
Or any of this.' 

Mac's pulled up outside,   
His gut-instinct itchy,   
He's aware that Jenn knows-   
Just how to kill Richie,   
Upstairs Jenn is saying-   
'All doubts now have gone,   
I'll put this behind me,   
Then I can move on.' 

She exposes a pistol,   
Two shots do the trick,   
Mac bounds up the stairs,   
What he sees makes him sick,   
Rich 'dead' on his back,   
With his sword's tip directed-   
By Jenn, at his throat,   
Which she wants disconnected. 

'Jennifer! Don't do this!'   
'But Alec wants me to...   
He's here with me now-   
Telling me what to do.'   
She sees Alec's specter-   
Saying, 'Do it for me.'   
Mac tries desperate measures,   
Will a ghost hear his plea? 

He turns to where Jennifer-   
Sees Alec's form,   
'Alec,' Mac pleads...   
'Don't let her perform-   
This act. You were haunted-   
By the ghost of your wife,   
Do you want Richie's ghost-   
Haunting Jenn, all her life?' 

'Alec?' she calls,   
But his figure is dimming,   
'Good-bye, Jennifer...'   
In her eyes, tears are brimming,   
She lets the sword go,   
Glares at Rich, lying still,   
'Let Alec haunt HIM!'   
Mac enfolds her, 'He will.' 

Later 

Mac silently watches-   
While Richie comes back,   
Rich coughs and revives,   
Relieved to see Mac,   
'You stopped her!' Mac nods,   
'She could walk away,   
We don't have that choice,'   
Rich: 'Will she be okay?' 

'In time, when she's dealt-   
With her demons, probably,'   
'Mac what about us?'   
Richie asks, 'You and me?'   
Mac stays impassive,   
Contemplating the sword,   
How many mistakes-   
Does his own life record? 

'Rich you screwed up,   
We've all done the same,'   
And Richie accepts-   
His share of the blame.   
'If I live to a thousand,   
I'll remember this incident,   
Him coming at me,   
Could I have done different?' 

Mac tells him sadly,   
'He won't be the last,   
All you loved, all you killed,   
You'll carry from the past,   
When you stop hurting-   
Inside, you are through...   
You are dead, and my friend-   
Then I'll worry about you.' 

Peace, Emit   
© 2002 

For those that are interested, here is the traditional version of 'Aura Lee'. The tune has been married to a number of lyrics, the most recent being, 'Love Me Tender', sung by another Immortal named Elvis. In this episode, 'Haunted', the writers made her blonde hair dark, but the emotion is unchanged. 

AURA LEE 

When the blackbird in the spring, on the willow tree,   
Sat and rocked, I heard him sing, singing Aura Lee   
Aura Lee, Aura Lee, maid of golden hair,   
Sunshine came along with thee, and swallows in the air. 

Chorus   
Aura Lee, Aura Lee, maid of golden hair,   
Sunshine came along with thee, And swallows in the air. 

In thy blush the rose was born, music when you spake,   
Through thine azure eye the morn, sparkling seemed to break.   
Aura Lee, Aura Lee, bird of crimson wing,   
Never song have sung to me, in that sweet spring. 

Chorus 

Aura Lee! The bird may flee, the willows golden hair   
Swing through winter fitfully, on the stormy air.   
Yet if thy blue eyes I see, gloom will soon depart,   
For to me, sweet Aura Lee is sunshine through the heart. 

Chorus 

When the mistletoe was green, midst the winter's snows,   
Sunshine in thy face was seen, kissing lips of rose.   
Aura Lee, Aura Lee, take my golden ring,   
Love and light return with thee, and swallows with the spring. 

Chorus 

* * *

**_Under the Kilt_ from Highlander: the Official Site: **

Don Paonessa, Creative Consultant, Post Production   
"We created the ghost stuff and that was cut and paste. Nothing was shot for that, when Richie's face becomes Alec Hill's face in the dojo, when he meets the wife, Jennifer, and he's got her husband's spirit in him, we had to create that stuff and play with it. " 

~ Little Tin God   
  
---


End file.
